Airtel resumes 3G services in eight circles; Vodafone, Idea likely to follow suit

After the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) upheld their plea to provide 3G intra-circle roaming (ICR) services, Airtel on Sunday announced the resumption of its 3G services in eight circles. In a statement, the service provider said 3G roaming services would now be available in Haryana, Maharashtra, Goa, Kerala, MPCG (Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh), Gujarat, Kolkata and UP (east) from Monday. Prepaid customers in Kolkata can start using 3G roaming right away on Airtel by selecting from five packs while postpaid customers will be able to avail the 3G roaming services soon. Last week, a TDSAT bench in Delhi had said that 3G ICR agreement signed by Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular is not violative of licence agreement. Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular had approached TDSAT against Department of Telecom (DoT) order to stop 3G intra-circle roaming agreement under which they had also agreed to acquire customers in area where they did not win spectrum. PTI